Thursday, January 29, 2009

Are we preparing our children for the future?

As the father of three young boys, my wife & I are still trying to instill the educational basics available to us in the local public educational system. Though we are active in the classroom and involved in homework on a nightly basis, I still am not sure that we (or our educational system) are doing enough to prepare our children for the future.

Several months ago I read the Thomas Friedman best seller "The World Is Flat" and it discusses the employment changes occurring worldwide because of the internet. The best selling book has been around for a few years therefore it should be available at the local library and I highly recommend it to every parent and young adult entering high school. The five minute video below reminded me of the book and if you have the time it is thought provoking.

Are we (politicians, tax payers, school administrators, teachers & parents) really doing all we can to prepare our children for the future?

Hat tip to Cerebration of the DeKalb County School Watch Blog which I also consider required reading for every parent in the DeKalb County School System. Thank You, Cere!

3 comments:

As someone who works closely with foreign educated colleagues and as an off-and-on adjunct at a couple of local universities I can assure you the answer is "NO". On a daily basis I'm confronted with the contrast between foreign and US educations and we not only don't win, we're not even in the game.

You should also watch "2 Million Minutes". It will cause you to re-assess not only the "education" your children are receiving but the lifestyle they're living.

As everyone who read Hitchhiker's Guide knows, the answer to the question "What does it mean?" is 42. But seriously, let's not lose sight of the fact that the explosion in technology in no way increases our ability to process information. The fact that more information is available more easily than ever before says nothing about quality or value or our ability to digest it. Having worked in many international teams in software development, I can see there is a certain amount of competition in a "global labor market." However, I have also seen the limitations of this market and conclude that most of humanity still wants to work with people in reality and less so virtually. I'm not denying there is a change; I simply do not believe it should keep parents of children in the local public school system awake at night. Rest easy tonight, Jim!

If folks are still freaked out about their kids and how they are doing as parents, take time to read this essay I found at the Most Valued Parents blog and cross-posted on my blog. I think it has some practical tips on how to know when things are going well or not so well ...

Motivating Your Kids to Do Their Besthttp://www.communityradar.com/story.php?id=6349

Heneghan Philosophy on Public Service

As a long time resident of the Dunwoody North community who created this blog to fulfill two ideals. First is that when I have the ability to make a difference, I have a responsibility to do so and second, transparency in Government breeds self-corrective behavior.

After the creation of the City of Dunwoody which I worked to establish, I stepped down from being the President of the Dunwoody North Civic Association to run for a seat on the new City Council. Since my election in 2008, I have prided myself of posting every public document and agenda item to this blog for all to see.